Awkward Instagram Encounters
by AutisticKogayne
Summary: Written for Adrinath August Day 3: Snapchat/Texting/Social Media. Adrien Agreste has a major crush on instagram artist Nathaniel Kurzberg, but he's content to sit on the sidelines and simply buy every print Nathaniel makes. Of course, Marinette is not nearly as content to watch her friend flail and fangirl over a guy he could so easily message. So she does it for him.


"Adrien Perfection Agreste, if I hear you sigh one more time, I'm throwing your phone out the window."

Adrien jumped, eyes darting away from his phone and to Marinette, who was glaring at him over the edge of her laptop.

"Sorry," He whispered, setting his phone face down on the table and looking back at the project that was displayed on his laptop screen. "What exactly did you need help with again?"

Marinette sighed dramatically, leaning back into her chair, closing her eyes, and resting the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Here I am, trying to get the advice of the great Adrien Agreste, and he's too busy acting like a lovestruck schoolboy to even pay attention to me," Marinette spoke, one eye opening as she turned to him with a smirk.

His face flushed as he ducked lower so he could hide behind his laptop, fingers twitching towards his phone. "Sorry, I'm so sorry. It's just...he said he was going to be putting some new prints and stuff in his shop and I don't want to miss the announcement."

Marinette sat forward, letting her head rest on her fist as she raised an eyebrow at the model sitting across from her.

"New prints huh? Are you sure that's the only reason you keep refreshing his instagram page?"

Adrien buried his face into his hands with a groan as Marinette simply laughed.

"He made a post yesterday about doing a live Q&A video today, and I really don't want to miss it."

Marinette was about to make a joke about his instagram crush when their waitress showed up, a blonde girl about their age who was seemingly obsessed with goats and knew the both of them personally at this point.

"Same as usual for the both of you?" She asked, pulling a small notepad out of her apron pocket and waiting for their response.

"Yeah, same as usual for me," Marinette nodded, turning to look at Adrien.

"Uh, I just want a lemon poppy seed muffin today please Ja-meme-sterella," Adrien laughed, ducking as the waitress swung her tray at his head.

"You make a meme joke one time, and nobody lets it go." She muttered to herself as she left, leaving Adrien snickering as Marinette glared at him.

"Why do you have to harass her every time she shows up?" Marinette asked, rolling her eyes as the boy continued laughing. "You know you harassing Jamie won't make me just forget the fact that you're crushing on this boy. Hard."

Adrien paused, face flushing as he tried to avoid eye contact with her, nodding with gratitude when Jamie came back with their orders.

"Seriously Adrien, you've been obsessed with him for almost a year. Why don't you just message him?"

"Are you insane?" Adrien hissed, leaning forward so he could whisper to her. "He has over a hundred thousand followers, he probably gets messages constantly. There's no way he'd even notice mine."

"Just take a chance. I did, and look! I now work for Gabriel Agreste, one of the greatest fashion designers ever, because I sent his son a message on twitter."

Adrien chuckled for a moment, remembering the awkward, rambling message that had led to his friendship with the girl across from him.

"This is different Marinette!" Adrien whined, pushing his laptop aside so he could slump over the table. "He's Nathaniel freaking Kurtzberg! Me messaging him is like trying to message Beyonce! What would I even say to him? Hi, I'm Adrien Agreste and I've been obsessing over you and your art for the past year and I have bought literally everything you've sold but I'm such a big wuss that I can't even message you!"

Marinette smiled and turned to look at him over the edge of her laptop, right hand reaching to grab her way too sweet drink.

"That's a perfect thing to say to him! So perfect, that I got into your instagram account and sent it for you!"

Adrien bolted up, horror painted across his face as he stared at Marinette, sure that she was bluffing.

"There is no way that you managed to get into my account. You're lying," He said, eyes narrowing as she simply smiled, turning her laptop so he could see the screen.

"Am I?"

His face paled, reading the message, noting that she tacked a 'so my friend sent this for me.'to the end of it.

Adrien just barely managed to stop himself from screaming, hands flying to grab at his hair as his eyes darted between the message and the girl who had sent it.

"Why! Oh god, why would you send that! He's going to think I 'm a total creep, and he'll block me, or file a restraining order, and then it'll get in the news, and dad will be so mad and he'll disown me and I'll live alone and-"

Marinette quickly cut him off, one hand covering his mouth as the other pulled one hand out of his hair.

"I highly doubt he's going to file a restraining order against you because you told him you liked his art. Worst case scenario, he doesn't respond, but who knows! He might actually message you back, so stop freaking out, okay?"

Adrien seemed to relax a little at her short speech, both hands falling out of his hair as he slumped forward.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Mare-Bear. Thanks," He said, holding his muffin up for a toast and opening his laptop again to help her with her project, leaving his phone facedown on the table the whole time.

* * *

When Adrien finally got home later that evening, he was more than ready to hop into bed and forget about how awkward the day was when he remembered the Q&A Nathaniel had promised for that night. Grinning, he scrambled around the house, connecting his laptop to his tv, grabbing his phone and a snack, he set himself up on the couch, practically bouncing as he waited for the video to come up.

Seven minutes later, it finally popped up, and with his cat, Plagg, in his lap, he hurriedly clicked the link and leaned back, smiling when the video loaded to show Nathaniel's room. The chair facing the screen was empty, but the sounds of someone shuffling around in the let the viewer's know that Nathaniel was there, but probably grabbing some last minute items, as he usually did.

When he popped into view, Adrien nearly fainted, heart pounding at the sight of the boy smiling at the camera, bright red hair pulled up into a ponytail as he adjusted his paint-smeared shirt.

"Hey everyone! Didn't think so many people would jump on so fast, but welcome to depression time with Nathaniel Kurtzberg!" The boy laughed, turning his head when someone yelled.

Nathaniel quickly sat himself down, typing something on his computer before turning his head to the side, waving someone over.

"So I know I promised a Q&A awhile ago, so I decided to finally get on it, especially with how many questions you guys had! I invited a few friends to sit with me for it, so I hope you guys didn't ask any really weird questions, cause those would be super awkward to answer with them sitting here," He spoke, seeming as if he was talking to himself more than his viewers as his two guests sat in the chairs on either side of him.

"So these are my friends, partially wanted them in this so you guys would stop commenting that I don't have any, Rose Lavillant and Juleka Couffaine! If anyone wants to submit some last minute questions including them, I'd be happy to answer, but I'll start answering questions now since it's been awhile!" He chuckled, smiling as the two girls beside him waved at the camera.

They were both very pretty, Rose in a flowery pink kind of way whereas Juleka seemed more reserved and darker, but Adrien's eyes were fixated on Nathaniel as the man stared at his screen for a moment before leaning back and smiling.

"Alright, so a few of you asked what my next plans are, since I just got the latest t-shirts and prints sent out and really, I have no idea," He shrugged, smiling at the blonde next to him. "I am actually super bad at planning things out, but I have been working to try to get a gallery showing sometime this month, so if I can get that all sorted out, I'll make a bunch of posts about it and hopefully a few of you will be able to come! I'd really like to meet you all and hear what you have to say."

Clicking at his laptop some more, Nathaniel's face seemed to harden slightly at whatever he saw before softening and Adrien leaned forward unconsciously, worried about what someone could've said that brought that look to his face.

"I'm sure this one was sent in as a hate mail kind of piece, and honestly I'm amazed that I'm apparently now popular enough for that, but I'm going to answer it anyway! I am actually mentally ill, I've been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and insomnia, which let me tell you, is a cocktail of fun! I am medicated, no I'm not ashamed of it, and my friends have been a wonderful support system for me, especially back when I was still in school and everyone thought I was just being an angsty teenager. I also know people like to believe that people who are depressed are more creative and artistic, but I don't paint because I'm depressed. I paint because I've always loved drawing and sculpting and painting, and now that the meds I'm on help stabilize me, I can paint when the inspiration strikes without feeling like I'm simply wasting my time."

Adrien wiped a tear out of his eye as Nathaniel did the same on screen, accepting a tissue from Juleka before smiling back at the camera. The way Nathaniel had stood up for himself and revealed that info about himself made Adrien's heart beat just a little faster.

Nathaniel continued with the questions for the next fifteen or so minutes, ranging from when he decided to truly pursue painting all the way to how he had met Juleka and Rose. Usually his Q&A sessions lasted around an hour, but at the fifteen minute mark, Nathaniel was humming to himself as he scrolled through messages when all of a sudden his face went bright red and he froze. Rose and Juleka both looked at him with raised eyebrows before turning to his computer and smirking. Rose leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Once she leaned away, Nathaniel jumped forward, smiling awkwardly at the camera as he waved.

"Well guys, I'd really like to answer more but something's come up and I'm so sorry but maybe I'll do another Q&A later this week and bye!" He practically yelled before shutting down the livestream.

Adrien frowned, upset that he had only gotten to see fifteen minutes of his crush as opposed to the usual hour, but he figured it would be best for him to take the opportunity to go to bed, so feet dragging, he got ready for bed, plugged his phone in on the bedside table, and threw himself in bed, quickly drifting off.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Nathaniel shrieked, hands flying to his head as the pulled and messed up his ponytail. "Adrien freaking Agreste messaged me! What do I do? Do I open it? Oh god, What did he say? What if he hates my work?"

Rose smiled, turning to look at her girlfriend over Nathaniel's shoulder, the both of them shaking their heads in amusement.

"The only way you'll find out is if you open it, but I doubt he'd say anything bad. You said he's been following you for about a year, and I doubt he'd wait this long to message you if he hated your work.

Nathaniel turned his head slightly to look at her, hands still running through his hair anxiously.

"But Rose~!" He whined, slumping his head over onto her shoulder. "What if he sent a really cool message and I just reply like a loser and he wants nothing to do with me ever again?"  
"You can't reply to it until you read it Nath. Just open it! Who knows, maybe he's confessing his undying love for you."

Nathaniel turned a deadpan stare to Rose before turning back to the computer, trying to psych himself up into opening the message.

"You're right," He whispered, reaching for his mouse. "He wouldn't wait this long to message me if he hated my work. Maybe he just wanted to tell me he liked it."

With a quick breath, he hurriedly clicked the message and snapped his eyes shut, taking several deep breaths before slowly opening them and reading the message.

 **adrien_agreste:** Hi, I'm Adrien Agreste and I've been obsessing over you and your art for the past year and I have bought literally everything you've sold but I'm such a big wuss that I can't even message you so my friend sent this for me.

Without thinking, Nathaniel screamed, hands flapping as he jumped out of his chair to pace the small space of his bedroom, Juleka and Rose both turning to him with a smile once they'd finished reading the message.

"So, maybe not his undying love, but it certainly sounds like he might have a bit of a crush on you," Rose smiled, turning her chair fully so she could watch the redhead pace. "Why don't you send a message back telling him you like his work too! You've had a crush on him forever Nath, take a chance and message him back!"

Nathaniel turned to the blonde and stared at her as if she had suddenly sprouted two new heads, shaking his own roughly before sitting on the edge of the mattress.

"Oh yeah, and say what? Wow, thanks Adrien, that means a lot! I'm also super into your work and have had a crush on you since I saw your instagram page but I didn't want to come across as a stalker, so I've never messaged you and now I'm **freaking** out because I don't know how I'm supposed to talk to people who are really cute and cool and hot and I'm dying!" Nathaniel shrieked, falling back on his bed with a groan.

"That sounds perfect, and sent!" Rose sang, causing Nathaniel to jump off the bed and over to his laptop, where his anxious ramblings had been typed up and sent to Adrien.

"Rose! Why would you send that? Oh god, he's going to think I'm a total creep and he'll file a restraining order and no one will want to buy art from a stalker and-" Nathaniel panicked, cut off as Juleka placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"Oh Nath, if his message was any indication, I bet he'll be ecstatic that you replied!"

Nathaniel only raised an eyebrow before sighing and letting his shoulders slump, the emotional outburst having drained him of the last bits of energy he had.

"Guess there's not really anything I can do besides wait, right?" He asked, looking up as Rose nodded. "I've got to clean up and then I'm going to head to bed if you guys want to head out."

Rose and Juleka stayed a few minutes more to help clean and make sure he took his meds before heading home. Nathaniel grabbed his phone off his desk as he shut the laptop and slid into bed, sighing as he hoped Adrien wasn't creeped out by him.

* * *

"He replied to me! Marinette, he messaged me back!" Adrien yelled into the phone excitedly, bouncing around his apartment as he got ready for work. He had seen the notification when he woke up that morning and although he hadn't seen what Nathaniel had said, he was none the less excited that he had gotten a response.

"Adrien, as happy as I am for you, it's four in the morning and I don't have to be up till eight, so let me go to bed and we can talk about it over lunch today, okay?" Marinette slurred, glancing over at her bedside clock with annoyance.

"Oh, sorry Marinette," he whispered, pulling the phone away from his ear to check the time. "I'll talk to you during lunch. I'll pay today as an apology for waking you up. I'll see you at work." He finished as he hung up and returned to his morning routine, excited and nervous to see what Nathaniel's response to his message was.

* * *

As soon as Adrien had seen Nathaniel's reply message, his face had flooded with heat as he had to hold himself back from screaming. It was a bit awkward when he replied back, but once the two of them got into the flow of things, the messaging became calmer and easier. They learned they had a lot in common, and the longer the messaging went on, the closer they got.

Adrien revealed that he had a weakness for anything sweet and loved all shades of blue, while Nathaniel told Adrien all about how he had a horrible habit of baking at odd hours of the morning and cried every time he watched a Studio Ghibli movie, no matter what.

It was a month later when Nathaniel opened the app upon seeing a notification that Adrien had messaged him back that things changed again.

 **adrien_agreste:** So I know we've been messaging back and forth, but I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go out sometime? It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be! I'd just like to get to see you in person. We could go to the movies or the museum or something if you wanted?

Nathaniel let a wide grin spread across his lips as he typed out a reply, secretly thankful for Rose and Juleka replying to Adrien's message a month ago.

 **nath_the_illustrator:** I'd love to go on a date with you. This Saturday at 6 work for you?

* * *

Of course, this was the most popular story told four years later at their wedding. Marinette, Juleka, and Rose all laughing at how oblivious and awkward the two were back then, although even after all those years, the two men still blushed and grinned like lovesick fools when looking at each other, so I guess some things never really change.


End file.
